Mr. Speaker, following the Quebec referendum on sovereignty in October 1995, 48 students attending Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Quebec were charged with electoral fraud.
Included in the list of individual charges on May 27, 1996, are six students from Nepean. Their fine if paid without contesting is $516.
Students choosing not to pay the fine are assumed to be pleading not guilty and will have to appear in court. The charges appear to arise from the definition of domicile.
These students took the appropriate steps to question the enumerators to ensure they were voting lawfully and the enumerators assured them they were. These students did what everyone else in the rest of the country wished they could do, fight to keep Canada united and exercise their patriotism at a critical time.
A trust fund has been established to assist in recovering the legal costs of fighting the charges in court. Anyone wishing to contribute to the trust fund may call my office for further information.